Formula 1 News: Norris easily tops Singapore GP final practice

Lando Norris in the superior McLaren F1 car (some call it a cheater car with its flexible wings) turned a lap of 1m29.646s to easily top final practice for the 2024 Singapore GP around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

George Russell was 2nd fastest for Mercedes, but a massive 0.479s behind Norris.

Oscar Piastri was third fastest in the second McLaren, 0.785s behind his teammate Norris.

An unhappy Max Verstappen was 4th in the diabolical Red Bull, 0.894s behind the McLaren of Norris.

Charles Leclerc, who was fastest in Practice 1 Friday, rounded out the top-5 for Ferrari, 0.913s behind Norris.

The two-horse race from yesterday has turned into a one-horse race. Norris finished 0.479s ahead of Russell, 0.785s ahead of his teammate and 0.894s ahead of title rival Verstappen.

That is a big, big margin.

Verstappen was happier with his car at a track that just doesn’t suit his driving style, especially since he expected Red Bull to struggle here. He missed out on Q3 last year, but fourth in FP3 bodes much better than yesterday’s times did.

But Perez has dropped back after a reasonable Friday, he wound up down in P15 which makes Red Bull’s form a little tricky to call.

Lewis Hamilton was seventh for Mercedes, an improvement from his difficult day on Friday, while the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were eighth and ninth – with Colapinto only 0.040s away from his teammate – while Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10.

2024 Singapore GP Practice 3 Results